If we keep going the same way, this mess will mean that you fund one of the largest buildouts of infrastructure in American history -- comparable to the interstate highway system -- on your bill every month. Except it will be going to all of that, not to you.
AT&T tried content plus pipes when it bought Time Warner. Verizon tried content plus pipes when it bought AOL and Yahoo, and, hell, AOL tried content plus pipes when it bought Time Warner in the early 2000s. You might notice a trend here — all of those deals ended in disaster.
The problem is what you don't see on the box, the resilience, sovereignty and competition risks that come when a growing chunk of rural New Zealand's connectivity, including some mobile towers, schools and businesses, depends on a single foreign owned satellite provider.
5mo ago
Underscored — save the words that stop you in your tracks.
